Blaine Gabbert will have a chance to close some ground on Cam Newton and show why he should be the first quarterback selected in the NFL draft when he throws at Missouri's pro day Thursday in Columbia, Mo.

Newton already has had three throwing workouts. He held one, mostly for media members, on Feb. 10 in San Diego, where he has been training. He threw during the NFL Scouting Combine in late February, and he threw a third time at Auburn's pro day last week.

At the urging of his agent, Tom Condon, Blaine Gabbert elected not to throw at the Combine. (AP Photo)

At the urging of his agent, Tom Condon, Gabbert elected to not throw at the Scouting Combine, so this will be his first opportunity to show off for NFL coaches and scouts in an individual workout.

Gabbert has a script of 60 passes that he will throw under the direction of former NFL quarterbacks coach Terry Shea, who has been working with Gabbert at the Athletes' Performance complex in Phoenix. Unfortunately for Gabbert, he will throw to some unfamiliar targets. Missouri doesn't have any draft prospects at receiver, and current NFL players are prohibited from participating in pro days because of the lockout. So Gabbert is expected to throw to receivers from Central Missouri State, Northwest Missouri State and Lindenwood University.

"Blaine's ready to go," said his father, Chuck Gabbert.

In addition to Gabbert's accuracy and arm strength, the NFL personnel on hand will evaluate his footwork. Missouri uses a spread offense, and Gabbert took most of his snaps from the shotgun formation.

Shea has been working with improving Gabbert's game in several areas: footwork, taking snaps from center, throwing on the run, and throwing short, intermediate and deep passes. NFL coaches and scouts are going to want to see how accurate Gabbert is when throwing from three- five- and seven-step drops.

"We expect to see a huge progression in his work," said an AFC scouting director. "Does his footwork look good? Along with that, how’s his accuracy? You’re going up against no pass rush and no defensive backs. You want to see a guy putting the ball in the places he’s supposed to put it."

Although some talent evaluators have first-round grades on Arkansas' Ryan Mallett and Washington's Jake Locker, it's largely believed that Gabbert and Newton are the only quarterbacks rated as top 10 draft prospects. It's possible that one of them could be selected No. 1 overall.

The Panthers, who have the first pick in the April 28-30 draft, are on the quarterback trail this week. They worked out Mallett on Tuesday, had a private session with Newton Wednesday at Auburn and will attend Gabbert's workout on Thursday.